A 27-year-old teacher and coach was arrested Monday on a sexual assault charge involving a ninth-grade student at Archbishop Bergan Catholic High School.
Nathan J. Wilhelm, who was Bergan's wrestling coach and a social science teacher, was dismissed Nov. 2 after an internal investigation into the matter, Principal Ron Beacom said Monday.
Wilhelm, who lives in Fremont, faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the Class III-A felony, said Dodge County Attorney Paul Vaughan.
In an affidavit filed Thursday in Dodge County Court, Detective Joyce Henke of the Fremont Police Department wrote that the student, a 14-year-old girl, said Wilhelm first began e-mailing her in October. The contents of the computer-generated e-mails from Wilhelm “became sexual in nature,” Henke wrote in the document, which also stated Wilhelm sent “text-messages of sexually graphic fantasies” to the girl via her cell phone.
On Oct. 29, the affidavit states, Wilhelm touched the girl's bottom and tried to kiss her in a secluded hallway at Bergan.
Henke interviewed Wilhelm Nov. 1, and the teacher admitted to each incident. After his arrest, his bond was set at $50,000, 10 percent cash.
An official with the Dodge County Correctional Facility said Monday that Wilhelm had posted bond and was released. Wilhelm's first appearance in Dodge County Court is set for Nov. 29.
Beacom said that when school officials heard about the allegations, they took action.
“We became aware of serious allegations involving Mr. Wilhelm on Monday, Oct. 31,” Beacom said. “We immediately removed him from the school premises and put him on paid leave.”
Beacom said further internal investigation “made it clear it would be for the best of the school that (Wilhelm) not continue here.”
Wilhelm's classes are being taught by a substitute, the principal said. The high school wrestling program, scheduled to begin practice Monday, will continue as planned.
“It will be handled very well,” said Beacom. “We will find someone to work with our students and continue the kind of success we're used to having.”
The principal said the school will continue to look out for “the best interests and the safety” of its students.
Wilhelm, a 2000 graduate of Midland Lutheran College, began working at Bergan in 2001.
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